Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
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June 2023 Pride Month Reading
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I enjoyed CL Polk's Witchmark and should probably make a point of finishing that trilogy... eventually... but I agree, their new novella sounds excellent!So far, June looks like this:
Gideon the Ninth
Detonation Boulevard & hopefully Bring the Fire
You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight
possibly Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender
Nadine in NY wrote: "It's (almost) June! Time for Pride! Who is reading something special? I don't have very much lined up myself, just a few poetry books, a novella, and a doorstopper. But maybe if you all recomm..."
Nadine, if it helps Plain Bad Heroines did not feel long to me. I read it on Kindle and I never even noticed it being particularly long.
Mod
I'm hoping that's the case. But I've got the physical book, and it is a BRICK. (I mean, I rarely read long books, so I'm a lightweight, and it doesn't take much for me to start complaining.)
Well, it's June, so once again, I'm going to say I'm going to read Proxy and probably won't...I do have a few books that I realistically think I could get read this month. I've been working on the audiobook Stay Gold, and I could finish that easily if I would just listen to it a little more often!
I currently have Flamer out from the library.
If I finish Stay Gold, I could listen to Out of the Blue which I could use for magical creature.
I want to read Gender Queer: A Memoir, but it's never in at the library.
There's lots more, but I think that's a realistic look for now. Annnd it will totally change the next time I go to the library! :)
Jennifer W wrote: "I want to read Gender Queer: A Memoir, but it's never in at the library."Can you put in a hold request for it, so you can get ahold of it eventually?
I can, but lately my holds come in when I'm least prepared for them! lol I'll just keep trying and when I get to the point where I *have* to read it, I'll put in that hold. :)
I tend to read a lot of LGBTQ books to begin with, so I'm not sure yet which ones I'll specifically get to in June. These are the ones I know I have on the horizon.One series I've been reading that I'll probably finish in the next month is a cute wlw manga series, Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon, Vol. 1.
I'm also planning to read The Grimoire of Grave Fates and Translation State which both come out in June.
I've also got planned:
Never Ever Getting Back Together for song lyric
Red, White & Royal Blue for becoming a movie/show
Last Night at the Telegraph Club for a holiday that's not Christmas
I may pick up Tales of the City as the book set in the decade I was born.
I'll see how many of these I actually get to during Pride month.
I tend to read a lot of LGBTQ books , like Claire Kannmany of us. On deck I have:Nine of Swords, Reversed by Xan West (the one and only!). After this, though, I have read their entire canon, and they are no longer on this mortal plane :(
The Summer of Jordi Perez
Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann I had DNF'd this because the ace MC was so infantilized. But I want to give it another try.
Arielle Twist anything I can find
NDN Coping Mechanisms: Notes from the Field
I started Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo for AAPI but didn't finish it. It slides easily into Pride Month.I am not in the mood for romances or memoirs, so I'm going to go non-fiction with The Stonewall Reader. I don't know all that much about this important event, shamefully, so time to change that.
My married gay neighbors brought us over a Pride bouquet of flowers last night. Very colorful and fun. These guys are awesome!
I almost forgot it was the start of Pride Month, but my calendar reminded me.Does anyone have any good recs that are nonfiction and not memoirs?
Going to the bookstore later and I'll see what I can find.
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Last year I read David Bowie Made Me Gay: 100 Years of LGBT Music .
It was a decent book, but I only gave it a 3-star rating. I would have preferred to have the timelines matched up. Instead, they were scattered so it made it a bit hard to follow.
I don't know if you like RuPaul's drag race, Ron, but I thought Legendary Children: The First Decade of RuPaul’s Drag Race and the Last Century of Queer Life was an interesting, enjoyable look at queer history. I don't know that you'd need to be a fan of the show - they sort of use it as a guideline, where they look at different elements of the show (the lip-synchs, the pit crew) but then trace the history of that idea / concept through time.
I loved We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride In The History of Queer Liberation when I read it a few years ago - a nice big coffee table book with great photos and excellent notes on history.
Joanna wrote: "I don't know if you like RuPaul's drag race, Ron, but I thought Legendary Children: The First Decade of RuPaul’s Drag Race and the Last Century of Queer Life was an interesting, enj..."Thanks for the rec. That's one thing I'm not familiar with, the whole drag aspect of the LGBTQIA+ community. That might be something worth learning.
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I went to the bookstore today and didn't find much. What they did have didn't really stand out to me.
Ron wrote: "I almost forgot it was the start of Pride Month, but my calendar reminded me.Does anyone have any good recs that are nonfiction and not memoirs? ..."
I just read an article about why there aren't more LGBTQ people in positions of power in companies and it referenced The Economic Case for LGBT Equality: Why Fair and Equal Treatment Benefits Us All. The article was interesting, and while I totally support the premise of the book, it kinda makes my eyes want to glaze over... but maybe it's more interesting than it sounds.
I know there's a book (or a few!) about the Stonewall uprising that has been rated well. I haven't read it, but I know other members of this group have and maybe could suggest it. That happened in June of some year (I think) which is why this is Pride Month.
I am re-reading (I forgot I already read it lol) MelissaAlso, on my tbr
Pageboy - purchased and waiting for it to show up!
Quietly Hostile: Essays
And I canot figure out if Yellowface is lgbtqa+ related
Melissa0919 wrote: Pageboy - purchased and waiting for it to show up!You'll have to tell me how this one is. I have considered it, but I'm kind of taking a break from memoirs for a bit.
Mod
..."
Does the book say why did they change the title from George to Melissa?
Melissa0919 wrote: "And I canot figure out if Yellowface is lgbtqa+ related"There's speculation about F/F feelings, but I don't recall anything concrete. RF Kuang is queer which, for many fans, makes anything she writes inherently queer as well.
I think I'll go back and try giving David Bowie Made Me Gay: 100 Years of LGBT Music another try. I didn't care for it because the timelines were scattered so it was hard to follow. Maybe now that I know what to expect it will be easier.
Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen It's impossible for me to recommend highly enough!Non-fiction, and I will probably reread it again.
Ace Voices: What it Means to Be Asexual, Aromantic, Demi or Grey-Ace Looking forward to this hold coming in.
I also have on deck:
Nine of Swords, Reversed by the incomparable Xan West
Dog Songs: Poems by Mary Oliver
I just accidentally read lots of LGBTQIA+ books all the time, and I have a few lined up for an IRL challenge this summer.
Mod
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/sho...
."
how does this book relate to Pride Month?
Ron wrote: "Picked up:Pageboy
So hoping to get started on this, this month."
I hope you like it, Ron! I'm excited for this one too.
Ashley Marie wrote: I hope you like it, Ron! I'm excited for this one too.Same. This has been on my radar since I first heard about it.
My Tegan and Sara graphic novel should be arriving this weekend:Tegan and Sara: Junior High
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Because I'll be getting into that one, I'm thinking about doing a re-read of their memoir High School
I totally forgot about this book until I saw someone recommend it on the Indigenous books section of TikTok:Reclaiming Two-Spirits: Sexuality, Spiritual Renewal & Sovereignty in Native America
- This book has been on my TBR/Indigenous bookcase for over a month. Now is the perfect time to read it.
The majority of my LGBTQ+ reading this month has been comics: All Boys Aren't Blue
Detonation Boulevard
Aquaman: The Becoming
Marvel's Voices: Pride
I knocked out the remaining volumes in the Wicked + the Divine series (The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 1: The Faust Act) and still not sure how I feel about it. An ambitious project, and somehow weirder than Sandman, which I didn't think was possible, with stunning artwork and unnecessarily cryptic dialogue. Either way, looking forward to Once & Future, Vol. 1: The King is Undead and Phonogram, Vol. 1: Rue Britannia.
Mod
You're ahead of me!! My completed LGBTQ reading so far this month has been one novella:
Even Though I Knew the End (which was so-so - it was both too long and too short, like it needed to be either a short story or a full length novel, but not this in between thing)
If you're getting the Audiobook Sync summer reads, this week's selections are LGBTQ+:Loveless about a young woman going to college and realizing she's asexual.
Beyond Magenta: Transgender and Nonbinary Teens Speak Out
https://audiofilemagazine.com/sync-se...
Mod
Loveless about a young woman going to college and realizing she's asexual.
Beyond Magenta..."
I have been! And now that I understand that "borrow" means "own for a gajillion years" I'm borrowing anything that looks good!!!
My hold on an audiobook at the library just came in, it works for Pride Month, but it's rather jarring to be listening to it now, with the OceanGate disaster in the news:
Our Wives Under the Sea
Yeesh, yeah, that's a little too real at the moment!
Mod
The combination of the news and the audiobook gave me super weird dreams!!! My family (me, ex, and our two kids) was on a mission, and the other members had died so we had to pick up where they left off - constant renditions of this, different settings, different missions.
ETA (Not about Pride but about dreams) - I was just telling my kids about these dreams, and I realized a few nights ago I had a nightmare about a pet rabbit dying ... and I was listening to Bunny. Apparently my audiobooks are getting into my dreams!! My next audiobook will be For You and Only You - I'm a little worried about what kind of dreams I'll have then hahaha!!!
Lol, maybe something a little less weird??When I was reading the Harry Potter books, I had the craziest dreams. I finally got to the point where I had to put the books down 1-2 hours before bed. They weren't even about HP, they were just bizarre (though HP characters do show up in my dreams sometimes!).
I finished Flamer. Best book of the year so far!! I read the whole thing today (it being a graphic novel helped), and I haven't done that in years. So realistic, so thoughtful, and even a few moving moments. I think I'll use it for a book about vacation, but it also works for a queer lead, a fat romance, and if you were born in the 90s, it works for that (not obvious, but there's a music scene and the author says it's 1995 in the afterword).
Mod
Our Wives Under the Sea was FANTASTIC! It was vague and left a lot of things unanswered, and sometimes that sort of thing bothers me, but this time I didn't mind at all, I really enjoyed the ride despite the nebulous nature of the plot.
It's told in two POVs, the woman on the sub under the sea, and the wife left at home waiting.
I listened to the audiobook and the woman who read Leah's part could not do American accents - LOL at first I was really confused, like "is this guy supposed to be Irish? Scottish? what IS that accent??" and then learned he's from California. Okay then! That's supposed to be an American accent!! LOL!! The other woman made all American's sound like Humphrey Bogart, but at least I understood she was trying for "American."
I also realized after the fact that the guy who wrote the non fiction graphic novel I just finished, Hidden Systems: Water, Electricity, the Internet, and the Secrets Behind the Systems We Use Every Day, is gay, so that's three books finished so far for Pride.
I'm currently reading Last Night at the Telegraph Club, so that will take me through the end of Pride month.I was able to read a good chunk of my list during the month.
Witch King - major f/f characters, casual same-sex acceptance, and also... (view spoiler).
Translation State - I count Ann Leckie's work, just because of how she plays with gender and gender identities.
The Grimoire of Grave Fates had several trans and queer characters.
Red, White & Royal Blue - m/m main romance
Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon, Vol. 3
Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon Vol. 4
Cute wlw manga, although I think the first two volumes were better.
Tales of the City - all sorts of identities
I finished Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo.In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune could possibly be considered a queer novel, but the author is queer.
I am reading The Stonewall Reader, but it is slow going and will not be finished by tomorrow. It is a collection of articles written about the LGBTQ experience prior to The Stonewall incident, during the incident, and afterwards. I'm still in the first part about gays and lesbians, mostly in New York, before Stonewall. It is so heartbreaking to read about how difficult their lives were then. I can't read it every day.
I'm still working on Gideon the Ninth and You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight - I was hoping to finish the latter but I saw a play last night and we're seeing a concert this evening, so they'll both just have to roll over into July.
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Books mentioned in this topic
Gideon the Ninth (other topics)You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight (other topics)
The Stonewall Reader (other topics)
Last Night at the Telegraph Club (other topics)
In the Lives of Puppets (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Malinda Lo (other topics)T.J. Klune (other topics)
Xan West (other topics)
Mary Oliver (other topics)
Angela Chen (other topics)
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I don't have very much lined up myself, just a few poetry books, a novella, and a doorstopper. But maybe if you all recommend some irresistible books, I'll add them to my list, too.
the doorstopper
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth - Mysterious deaths, a creepy girls' school, seeecrets from the past ... what's not to like! I've been wanting to read since it came out a few years ago, but it's just so LONG, each time I borrow it from the library, I send it back unread because I can't make time for it. So I decided this year, it would be the only book I plan to read in June. Come hell or high water, I am reading this book. Surely I can read it in less than a month!
the novella
Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk - I stumbled upon this book recently on some "new books" list and it sounded perfect for me! It's the perfect blend of noir mystery, fantasy (a magical detective! oooo), and historical fiction! and now I've got it from the library, thus immediately violating my plan to read just ONE book in June. But it's short. I think I'll start June with the novella and then move on to the long book.
the poetry
Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency by Chen Chen
Alive At The End Of The World by Saeed Jones
A Thousand Mornings: Poems by Mary Oliver
audiobook
And I'll probably borrow an audiobook, maybe one or more of these:
Our Wives Under the Sea (which I have had on hold FOREVER now!)
Last Night at the Telegraph Club
The Paying Guests